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Hozen
The hozen (sometimes known as hozu) are a monkey-like race that lives in Pandaria. Short-lived and immature, they are a passionate and playful race, mischievous pranksters that "act like a group of 14 year old boys running around together in the jungle". The hozen are native to Pandaria, and are found all over the continent. Mostly a wild and independent race, hostile to any who wander into their hunting grounds, one tribe of forest hozen were befriended by the Horde after adventurers earned their grudging respect. Equipped with machine guns and weapons from the Horde, this hozen tribe were trained and recruited to join the battle against the Alliance and their new allies, the Jinyu. Background The hozen are uncannily dexterous foragers and hunters who dwell in clans among treetops and mountains of Pandaria. They are a simple race driven by their passions. The hozen are a short-lived race. Their elders are typically no more than twenty years old, usually fourteen or fifteen, and few hozen survive past their twentieth birthday. As a result, their relative maturity when compared to the other speaking races is quite minimal and their society lacks roots (and rules) as a result. Uncouth and impulsive, hozen nonetheless play, live and squabble together… at least until their clans grow so large that they collapse into multiple smaller groups. In contrast to the very reserved and polite jinyu, the hozen are a passionate people that love to love, love to hate, and love to feel any emotion they can feel, as long as they feel it strongly. Hozen love to hunt and fish, and often will assault anyone and anything in their hunting grounds. The other races of Pandaria are therefore careful to avoid these areas, but this is often not enough to avoid conflict. The hozen's notoriously short tempers grow even shorter when their hunger pushes entire clans, including elderly and young hozen, to ravage food sources outside of their territory, either gathering enough food or seeing enough hozen die in the process to ensure the survivors’ continued health. Hozen skulls are often found scattered among their huts and campfires. Jinyu collect hozen skulls as prized tokens, and use them to perform ceremonial rites; the older the skull, the more potent its magic. Hozen are known to keep and tame tigers, although they have also been known to be preyed upon by tigers, as well as by crocolisks. Hozen seem to live on a diet composed mostly of fish, or as they call them, "slickies", and sometimes catch them using bait made from bugs' legs. The Jade Forest's mountain hozen fear the venomous Grove Vipers and often hunt them out of pure spite. Kun-Lai Summit The hozen of the Kun-Lai mountains are unusually aggressive, even by hozen standards. Food and supplies are often scarce in this hostile terrain. When times are hard, the hozen leadership may declare a "ravage" on nearby settlements. During a ravage, every hozen strong enough to walk joins in on a massive swarm attack on nearby villages. In this way, they ensure they either acquire enough food to last the winter, or they lose enough of their weakest to ensure their current supplies are enough. For years, the Shado-Pan and grummles have maintained an uneasy peace with the hozen in exchange for food tributes. Fear of the Shado-Pan keeps the local tribes in check... usually. History Hozen have been at war with the jinyu for a very long time. At some point long ago the hozen approached them for help; the jinyu felt sorry for them and taught them how to survive. The jinyu gave them their trust, but over time the hozen grew strong and bold and began taking the land for their own, leading them to betray the ones that had helped them. This resulted in the jinyu's fall from power and the almost total eradication of their people. Facing the hozen's "dirty guerilla tactics", the jinyu are outwitted by the hozen at every turn. The hozen are vastly superior on land, especially in areas with thick tree cover, but the jinyu have a strong advantage on or near water, allowing them to defend Pearlfin Village. The jinyu consider the hozen "careless, filthy beasts". The hozen took part in the pandaren revolution, covertly digging tunnels that would lead them behind the mogu defences. Ecology Culture Hozen have a rite of passage for their people that celebrates martial skill. Most hozen respect good fighters, or good "grookers" as they say. Those that have shown their strength in battle earn their "name name". Instead of being addressed by their name once, they are addressed by their name twice, and this is shown as a title of respect. Language The language of the hozen is steeped in mystery. While the majority of the hozen are able to speak in a common language they often include an assortment of other sounds and "words" that have yet to be translated by other races. Most jinyu scholars believe these additional words to be uncharitable or offensive in nature, but the matter is far from closed. To quote the Great Sage Ook Ook, "You can take the derk out of the jib, but you shouldn't put the jib in the derk." Combat Some young and rambunctious hozen are trained from an early age to use boxing gloves so they don't accidentally kill their tribe members, and more importantly, to keep them from picking their noses. The hozen rely on dirty guerrilla tactics. Ambushes and traps. They are able to swing and leap from tree to tree and use thick trees for cover. Hozen sometimes take prisoners, keeping them in bamboo cages. Types There are Jungle Hozen and Mountain Hozen, the heartier kind, and Forest Hozen. According to the Monkey King there are also Sky Hozen. While most hozen are hostile, there are some of the less wild forest hozen that have made themselves homes amongst the pandaren, often acting as farm hands, or merchants. A hozen can even start their own proper farm in The Heartland if they want to. Some have begun training in Tian Monastery in the Jade Forest. Such individuals are accepted on their personal merits, and there is no prejudice placed on them by the pandaren due to the actions of their species as a whole. Trivia (TBA) Category:Races Category:Humanoids Category:Creatures